5/25/16

With the news of Lucas Duda’s back troubles being far worse
than the Mets had feared, the startling lack of power hitting in the minor
leagues reared its ugly head as the team scrambled to look at in-house options
to fill the void. Right now Eric
Campbell, he of the Mendoza-line batting average and two RBIs, is the man of
the moment. Like Kirk Nieuwenhuis before
him, fans have seen Campbell get exposed with too much playing time.

Reports are out saying that Wilmer Flores could return as
soon as Friday. While he’s obviously not
Terry Collins’ favorite player, you’d have to think offensively he has more
potential than Eric Campbell. What you
sacrifice in OBP you’ll get back in HRs and RBIs.

Newcomer Ty Kelly was a bit of an oddball choice for
promotion given that he’s not a first baseman, but an
infielder/outfielder. My assumption is
that his switch hitting bat was more desirable to the club than another righty
in TJ Rivera. After all, once Duda hit
the DL it left Alejandro De Aza as the sole lefty on the bench.

Assistant GM John Ricco has already stated that the internal
options are not necessarily long term solutions and that means a look outside
the organization is necessary. Players
who might be available fall into a few different categories. Let’s first look at the ones with bad
contracts:

Ryan Howard has become something of the poster child for
sunk costs. After being a feared hitter
for the earlier part of his career, his last few seasons have been lackluster
at best. The descent began in 2012 with
14 HRs, 56 RBIs in about half a season’s worth of ABs – not bad – but only a
.219 batting average. He followed that
up with an 11 HR, 43 RBI, .266 season in 315 ABs in 2013. In 2014 he did provide 23 HRs and 95 RBIs but
fanned 190 times and hit just .223. Last
year was more of the same with a 23/77/.229 slash line. This year he’s got 8 HRs and 18 RBIs to go
along with an ugly .156 average. At age
36 he may be done and perhaps could be picked up at minimum wage once the
Phillies swallow hard and release him.
No one wants anything to do with his $25 million salary or $10 million
buyout for next year.

Prince Fielder has not been the player the Rangers
envisioned when they acquired him from Detroit back after the 2013 season. 2014 was a lost cause due to injury, but he
rebounded nicely in 2015 with 23 HRs, 98 RBIs and a .305 average. This year, however, he’s off to a dreadful
start with just 2 HRs, 23 RBIs and a .202 average – not the kind of numbers you
expect from a player earning $24 million per year (well, $18 million with $6
million per season paid by Detroit).
Unfortunately he’s set to earn this same salary in 2017 through
2020. Since conditioning has never been
his strong suit, the club that acquires him is assuming an awful lot of
risk.

Albert Pujols was once the most feared slugger in baseball,
but ever since making his way out to Anaheim he’s not been the same player. Last year he found that power stroke once
again, clubbing 40 HRs and driving in 95, but it was at the expense of a .244
average from this career .310 hitter.
This year he’s delivering runs – 9 HRs and 30 RBIs – but the average is
down even further to .228. He’s due $25
million this year and gets a $1 million raise each year through 2021. He’d provide power but unless the Angels
kicked in about 35 to 40 percent of that salary I can’t see it happening.

Joe Mauer is an icon in Minnesota but turning into a bit of
an albatross. He’s earning $23 million
per year to deliver 4 HRs and 55 RBIs in 2014 while hitting .277, then followed
that up with 10/66/.265 in 2015. This
year he’s got 3 HRs, 12 RBIs and hitting .271.
There’s no way I’d want to touch that contract which runs for two more
full years at that same salary.

One outside of the box idea that’s been floated around is to
coax Adam LaRoche out of retirement for the rest of this season. He’s 36 and may want to have one last hurrah
at a reduced price though his ending salary in Chicago was $12 million. The final year was not a good one for LaRoche
who was a Met killer in his Washington days, 12/44/.207, but as recently as
2014 he provided a Duda-esque 26/92/.259.
Of course, you’d have to make room for his kid in the clubhouse, too.

There are the guys who play 1st and have power
but sometimes struggle with the Mendoza line.
This group would include Chris Carter, Mark Reynolds, Chris Davis and players
of that ilk. I think that replacing Duda’s
power would be good, but the team is already hitting the long ball. What they need instead are some guys who can
get on base regularly ahead of Yoenis Cespedes, David Wright, Curtis
Granderson, Neil Walker and Michael Conforto.

My personal preference would be the seldom-used Hyun Soo Kim
of the Baltimore Orioles who, off his dreadful spring, has not gotten much
playing time. His numbers in Korea
(taken with a grain or full silo of salt) were outstanding. In his last year he hit .326 with 28 HRs and
121 RBIs. More impressive than the power
numbers, however, is the fact he struck out just 63 times all year while
drawing over 100 walks. He’s a career
.318 hitter and would provide the left handed power missing with Duda’s
departure. Music to Fred Wilpon’s ears
is the fact he’s on a $2.8 million contract this year and $4.2 million next
year. He can also shift to the outfield
if/when Duda returns. He’s just 28
years old, too.

An older player who gets on base and plays solid defense is now-minor-leagure James Loney who was released by the Rays and picked up by the Padres. For my hometown El Paso Chihuahuas he's doing quite well, hitting .333 with a .368 OBP while delivering 2 HRs and 23 RBIs. He's not a power hitter and never will be, but he could be a table setter for the Mets' RBI guys. He'd only cost minimum wage and whatever the Padres would want in return.

Another approach would be to land someone who can play both
catcher and 1st base as a hedge against not only Duda’s injury but
also Travis d’Arnaud’s health. Guys like
Brian McCann, Mike Napoli and John Jaso come to mind. (Buster Posey, does, too, but the Giants have
not taken any severe blows to the head lately that I’m aware of).

The best of the bunch to consider here would be the Brewers' Jonathan Lucroy. He's not a slugger (career high once of 18 HRs) but he is a .280 hitter who doesn't strike out much and can play both positions of need. His contract is not bad at $4 million this year and a $5.25 million option next year. The buyout is just $250K if they choose to go in another direction. The Brewers may harbor some lingering resentment towards the Mets after last year's Carlos Gomez fiasco, but a trade with Kevin Plawecki and a pitcher such as Sean Gilmartin could get that done. There's also the subject of last year's trade -- Zack Wheeler -- who is closer to a productive return than he was at that time. Personally, I'd be reluctant to do that as Gomez was a defensive whiz with power and speed whereas Lucroy is a solid but unspectacular hitter and adequate at best defensively.

5
comments:

I wouldn't mind seeing James Loney play every day from now till all star break and see what happens.I know nothing of his demise and banishment to the minors despite always hitting for average.I know some random person online mentioned an opinion that his defense has regressed so maybe that plus lack of power explains something.

After that my option is Lucroy at 1B OR catcher and then once again try playing Wilmer every day at 1B and see what happens there.

I have no issues with Lucroy but my first option remains Kim. He is not proven which, to this manager, means everything given his strong preference for veterans over rookies. Still, a 10 year track record of making contact and not striking out is nothing to sneeze at even in the Korean league. Maybe his power doesn't translate but look at Kang on Pittsburgh who started off slowly last year and finished very strongly.

Kim is an interesting option. I am one who wouldn't necessarily be against looking at Conforto there just given that that gets us a gold glove CF on the field as a bonus (yes, I know, there are excellent reasons to leave well enough alone with the kid, but still.)

If we're going to get Loney, I'd actually rather put Wilmer there for a month or two and see what happens through the trade deadline.